Computer Science

This course has been designed for students who wish to go on to higher education courses or employment where knowledge of computer science would be beneficial.

Programming is a key component of any computer science qualification and you will develop these skills through problem solving scenarios using an algorithmic approach. We teach high level programming concepts from the ground up using C# to develop procedural, event driven and object oriented solutions. The emphasis is on developing computational thinking skills to creatively code solutions that draw on key concepts fundamental to computer science.

In this course, you will gain extensive knowledge of computing theory which is developed further to include modern trends in computer science. You will learn low level language translation to machine code as well dabbling with a functional language. Specifically you will learn how to design and create algorithms, use data structures, forms of data representation, databases, big data, hardware, communication protocols and networking. You will also learn about the impact of computers in the modern world and the moral and legal issues that have arisen as a result of computers.

Exam board:

AQA

Essential Entry Requirements:

Standard Sixth Form requirements plus Grade 6 in GCSE Maths.

Preferred Entry Requirements:

Grade 6 in GCSE Computing and the ability to code solutions to problems in at least one high level programming language.

Assessment

This is an on-screen exam based upon a pre-released skeleton program. You will answer series of short questions about the skeleton program and write your own code to extend the functionality of the program. The paper includes a small number of theory questions.